'Woody' stresses importance of win

Jonathan Woodgate has stated the importance of Saturday's victory over Sunderland going into the current international break.

Jonathan Woodgate has stated the importance of Saturday's victory over Sunderland going into the current international break.

On the back of two straight league defeats, the defender is delighted that the three points keeps us within the leading pack.

‘Woody' was making his full return from a groin injury and is the first to admit that the 2-0 win was not accompanied by our best performance.

But he believes Sunderland's impressive showing at the Lane proves they could be a side right in the thick of the top six come May, and grinding out a victory against them was therefore a must.

"We battled hard and got the victory in the end, which was important for us," said ‘Woody' exclusively on Spurs TV Online.

"You can't always play well and it was important that we got the three points despite not playing well.

"Sunderland are a really good team and they were missing three of their top players in Kenwyne Jones, Lee Cattermole and Lorik Cana.

"They're going to be a threat and Steve Bruce has got them playing well. In the game we rode our luck and Gomes kept us in the game.

"The most important thing was that we got the three points going into the international break and we're back in the top four now."

On goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, whose penalty save from Darren Bent with the scores at 1-0 proved to be a turning point, ‘Woody' reserved special praise.

"‘Benty' said to me that he normally goes the other way but he thought that Gomes would read him, so he must have changed his mind," he revealed.

"But it was a great save and he deserves all the plaudits he gets because he's been fantastic. He came here at the start and there were question marks about him, but he was excellent last season and he's been really good again this season."

As for himself, a groin injury ruled ‘Woody' out for the first two months of the season and he admits there is still a long way to go before he reaches the level of performance we are used to from him after putting in his first full shift of the campaign.

"It was good to get 90 minutes under my belt but my timing was off and I was all over the place to be honest!" he added.

"Staying fit and injury free for the rest of the season is the plan of action, and if I can improve my game I can hopefully stay in the team."